Rumors!!!!

I am new to Nashville (downtown area) and have met a few nurses in my building, mostly travel and long term contract, 1 who works for the State and they are telling me horror stories about the state of nursing here in TN.

Maybe I am spoiled coming from California where ratios are mandatory but I personally worked VERY hard to get them established and can see the positive impact they make. I have called around to Baptist, Vandy and a few nursing agencies and they seem less than interested in recruiting me, are actually unwelcoming and Baptist told me that they do not have any openings for RN's, that they have a very low turnover and rarely use registry to "plug up holes in staffing". Should I chuck my career and become a country singer? A super model? I have to say I am very discouraged and not getting a lot of information . I have updated my resume and sent it to a few agencies but so far, no one seems to care. Are there a ton of RN's here?

Did I flood the market? Should I consult a career counselor for advice? I am anxious to get back to work but where? What can I expect? This is worse than being a new grad, at least I had friends who graduated with me, went on to new facilities and gave me an honest update on where they were working, the pay scale, the hours etc. I feel like I am on the dark side of the moon. No accurate information (granted the nurse I spoke with was just coming back from a tragic assignment in another State) but usually I knew where to get the truth about a job, a facility, a recruiter or an environment in California. I had a network of information. I need some help here. I want to continue to work registry, days, med/surg and no one seems to know how I can make that happen. Yikes.

On the upside, I love Nashville, downtown living is great, my dog and cat are doing well with the move, I hooked up with a hair stylist in Hendersonville who is dialed in and I found the box my underwear was packed in!

I can tell this saga is going to be a long one, I uprooted, left my child behind in California, my friends and family and am beginning this journey in a wonderful place. TN is beautiful and the people are so gracious, I hope I can fit in here and they can overlook my being from California. My stylist tells me that folks from here assume that everyone from California is neaveau riche , rude and superficial ! Which is one reason I got out of there!

My TN buddies, I appreciate your help and I know you will provide good advice. Thanks

I have been job searching on and off for a while now in NC. I would suggest something I've found to be helpful no matter what area of nursing you're looking into. I flood the internet with faxed, sent via emails, etc. to different agencies, faacilities, hospitals, etc. that I think I'd like to work for.
Then, I also f/u w/class.ads. from newspapers for nursing jobs I'd like to be interviewed for. If you do land that interview, send a thank you note via snail mail, not via email, immediately to the person who interviewed you thanking them for the interview...that makes a HUGE impression to your favor.
Make it a job finding a job. Take an entire week, every day, and even hand deliver some resumes....don't forget cover letters, even via email....they go a long way in making it clear you're serious and add a personal touch to an otherwise very formatted resume sent.
Make the cover letter pertinent to the job itself. Introduce yourself and be detailed and business-friendly in the cover letter. These letters of introduction are even more important than the resume itself in some cases. As they are just that. An introd. of yourself before resume is actually even read.
Some HR personnel are impossible to get thru. I've noticed they're more protective of the one doing the job searching for the company and won't even return phone calls or f/u in any other way if THEY don't think you're a good fit. It seems odd, to me anyway, that HR folks who are NOT nurses can even make an informed decision re: status of whether we're interviewable material anyway!
Frustrating, I know. I'm working in a field totally unrelated to nursing right now due to the frustration of unable to find a decent nursing job PLUS some chronic health problems at the moment. May never be able to return to bedside nursing full time ever again. Sad. I'm only 47.

Thanks for the great tips Angel. I guess I can take a temp job unrelated while I'm looking, here it's not "what you know" but "whom you know" that gets your foot in the door. Keep me updated, I'' do the same.

Dec 20, '06

Joined: Jul '06; Posts: 557; Likes: 47

Dear Haunted,
Good luck. No real advice but I think you are adjusting better to the move than others you are coming into contact with. Culture shock?

Haunted,
Good luck with your job search. I've done the opposite move that you have (From TN to CA). I"m in the navy so finding a nursing job wasn't an issue for me, but the culture shock is! I do agree with you that in TN is seems like its more who you know than what you know. But I couldn't imagine that hospitals in Nashville are soaked with nurses and couldn't possible be hiring RN's. I'm not from middle tn; east tn is my homeland. But I know the shortage is huge over there; and I don't see how it could be much different in Nashville. I know that none of my friends had a hard time getting hired. I, in fact, had 2 job offers other than the Navy before I left home.
Is this life in Tn just temp for you? I know it was hard getting temp nursing work before I left for the Navy.
And yes you are correct the pt to nurse ratio are much better in CA than Tn. Maybe you can help change/improve the situation in Tn like you did in Caily!?
Good luck and keep us updated.

Haunted,
I see you arrived here in TN. It may be true that there isn't as much agency work since HCA started their own agency..but I don't know for sure.
Seems the hospitals have plenty of openings listed on their websites. Have you put in any apps or called human resources?
I have lived in TN all my life - and I don't think those things about people from California
There are plenty of jobs in Memphis - and Navy says there is pleny in East TN - I am sure once you get out there and wow them you'll have no probs
I believe I read there are 19 hospitals in the Nashville area. Go get 'em

Keep us posted - I hope you land your dream job soon! This is a hard time of year with the holidays - hopefully after the first of the year everyone will be back in the office and you can get it all lined up. The holidays are the WORST times trying to get things going on a job hunt.

Haunted,
I've received mailings in the past year from both St. Thomas and Vandy. Both were good places to work in the 90's. Vandy is always hiring. I just checked their web site & found a boatload of positions available to RNs. Their hiring process can be a bit unwieldly. You could always contact the CNO, as she's provided her name at their website: Vanderbilt Nursing - Welcome ...it's worth a shot.

The one thing I recall hearing about Baptist when I lived in Nashville was about their high nurse-patient ratio. I vowed to never work there after the stories I heard from more than one nurse there.

Thanks for the great tips and replies. I posted an update on the previous thread, pretty much says it all. I'm still exploring the "hood" and found a dry cleaner and scrub outlet so far... still can't find my toothbrush, must be in a box somewhere.....

Jan 4, '07

Joined: Jan '07; Posts: 4

I am new to this forum.... so here goes. I am from Murfreesboro and will graduate from an ADN program in May. I work at MTMC (a St Thomas Health Services Hospital- like Baptist and St. Thomas). Rest assure Baptist hospital HAS travel nurses. A nursing school buddy of mine worked on Ortho there; she told me about all the travelers there. A lot of them were foreign she said. There are also some agency and travel nurses at MTMC. You might want to give them a call. Rajayna Riley is the recruiter there. I'm a phlebotomist right now; she was great with application/interview/orientation process. Feel free to email me if you have further questions or want her info. DON'T LOOSE HOPE! The greater Nashville area is a great place for nursing! YOU WILL FIND SOMETHING!

Thank you Megan for the resource information. Please let me know as your graduation approaches, I would love to be there and learn more about your school. Nursing schools offer great continuing education which we all need in this profession. I will look into the Baptist situation.

I do have an appointment tomorrow with an agency that has an office here in the Nash, also worked with them in California so I'm looking forward to that.

I require a flexable schedule at this time, either in house registry/float pool or per diem as my husband will be traveling in his job and I am a stay at home kind of Mom for our adorable mutt and selfish cat. Other than that I am enjoying exploring areas of this fun city, today I found "Berry Hill" which is very hippyish and led me to plan a trip to some "Music City" thrift stores for vintage clothing. Antiques are also awesome here. Good luck Megan and keep in touch!

Berry Hill has some neat places. They did have a coffeeshop that was very child-friendly. I heard that they moved to a posher part of town sometime in '99 or so. I loved the thrift stores in Nashville. I purchased much of my non-work wardrobe there (at the time) Alas, my current life doesn't afford much time for shopping in thrift stores & the ones I've found seem rather high.

Happy shopping!

Jan 5, '07

From:
US
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Joined: Apr '05; Posts: 314; Likes: 201

Haunted-
What do you mean you "left" your child behind??? A grown child? If not I hope it's just temporary!

Haunted-
What do you mean you "left" your child behind??? A grown child? If not I hope it's just temporary!

Nope, he is soon to be 19 and I raised him alone throughout much of his life. He graduated from high school after a lot of drama, a suicide attempt, breaking the law, stealing my car and getting involved in drugs. He began to get verbally and physically aggresive towards me, my husband and threats towards the family. He refused to follow house rules ( no drugs, drinking or smoking) and continued to associate with his gangster buddies.

His Dad reluctantly agreed to let him move in with him back in June and I have only spoken to my child a few times since then. If he hears my voice on the phone he says "FU*K YOU!" and hangs up on me. He has stopped any contact with family on my side and also cut off all contact with me.

He has my cell phone and contact information and I have written and left messages that he is welcome here any time IF he chooses to leave his gang friends behind. He has joined with a very notorious Mexican mafia group and has made violence and crime a big part of his life. It breaks my heart every day to think of the path he has chosen and I miss him very much. His Dad will not discuss the situation with me and is still very bitter about the divorce.

I would never have believed that this young man would take this turn in life and I blame myself everyday for not doing more. We almost went broke paying for a security guard to watch over my son and spent countless hours taking him to AA and NA meetings to no avail. He has been afforded every resource and ended up throwing it literally in my face. Again, I blame myself.